Court tosses out Illinois construction program, video poker

Lawmakers tried to put too much into one piece of legislation, appeals judges rule

Illinois' $31 billion public works program hit a roadblock Wednesday when a court deemed that state lawmakers didn't properly assemble the pieces of a deal that legalized video poker and raised taxes on candy, beauty products, liquor and license plate stickers.

The appellate decision puts at risk Gov. Pat Quinn's construction program, which he has hailed as the cornerstone of an effort to create jobs and bolster the state's economy.

But the governor and General Assembly leaders are hopeful that the Illinois Supreme Court will reverse the ruling. Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she will go to court Thursday to try to get an immediate reprieve to keep the program going. Quinn's office urged calm.

"Capital bill projects are putting thousands of people to work in every corner of the state while supporting local businesses, improving our infrastructure and increasing energy efficiency," Quinn's office said in a statement.

Democrats and Republicans joined together in 2009 to approve the plan as a way to get construction crews back to work and to bring home millions for local road, bridge and school projects. The controversial video poker portion has been plagued by problems from the start. The machines are still not up and running, and many towns opted out of allowing the gambling expansion in their locales.

On Wednesday, the judges ruled that one piece of legislation creating the construction program violates a state constitution provision requiring that laws address a single topic. As such, the judges said all four laws that represent the backbone of the program are unconstitutional. In the view of the court, lawmakers had tried to stuff too much into their legislative sausage-making.

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said the authors of the law are familiar with single-subject issues and believe the law satisfies the constitutional standard.

"This isn't our first rodeo. People know about single subject, they drafted the bill so it would be consistent with the constitution and they expect the Supreme Court to agree," Brown said. "If for some reason some portion needs to be re-enacted, given the bipartisan nature of (support), I don't know anyone who would suggest there'd be difficulty there."

The Appellate Court's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Wirtz Beverage Illinois, a liquor empire run by Rocky Wirtz, whose family also owns the Chicago Blackhawks. The Wirtz liquor business objected to the way lawmakers imposed bigger tax hikes on wine and hard liquor than on beer.

The liquor tax varied by alcohol content — the stiffer the potion, the higher the charge. For a case of beer, the tax rose a dime to 52 cents. The charge on wine and some lower-alcohol-content spirits like Bailey's Original Irish Cream leapt from 15 cents to 28 cents for a regular 750-milliliter bottle. For a fifth of the hard stuff, the tax went up to $1.69 a bottle, up 80 cents.

"This lawsuit was always about how the legislature passed this bill and the discriminatory tax on wine and spirits," a Wirtz spokesman said in an e-mail. "The decision affirms that, and we are gratified by it."

The court ruling gives officials pause because the state is on the hook. The state already has borrowed about $4 billion, and state budget officials said some of that loan was supposed to be paid back with sources the court struck down Wednesday.

That means more stress could be placed on the state's shaky finances, which were just buttressed with a 67 percent increase in the income tax rate. Quinn budget spokeswoman Kelly Kraft said sales tax revenues or the state's general operating funds could be tapped if necessary.

"All these bonds that have been issued have been backed by the full faith and credit of the state of Illinois," Kraft said.

The state was poised to borrow another $5 billion for the construction program after lawmakers granted approval this month, but the court's decision is likely to delay that.

The state awarded 3,965 projects worth about $3.9 billion during the last construction season, officials said. Sen. Dale Righter, the Senate deputy Republican leader, called the ruling "very significant" because it jeopardizes "billions of dollars for projects that are either done or on the way to being done."

The ruling will have no immediate impact on a platter of fee increases that hit motorists because officials will wait to see if the ruling is put on hold, said Dave Druker, spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White.

Higher costs included raising the fees for license plates from $79 to $99, titles from $65 to $95 and driver's licenses from $10 to $30, Druker said.